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Beside that, God has already demonstrated He uses a pedigree of truth, not men, to sustain His people.

In truth, he uses both, an unbroken chain, as he used blessed Joseph and blessed Miriam/Mary, the mother of "God with us."

Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Isaiah, Catholic chapter seven, Protestant verses ten to sixteen,
Matthew, Catholic chapter one, in its entirety,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James,

Point well taken. There were specific instances where bloodline mattered in the Old Covenant. But this is moving the goalposts. The original question had to do with identification of the ecclesia, not the Messianic bloodline, or the Temple priesthood, which was rendered obsolete by the Eternal High Priest, Jesus.

BTW, as long as you raised the issue, let's ask the question. Do you suppose any of the people of Joshua's time would have been able to walk up to Rahab the ex-prostitute and identify her as an essential link in the physical pedigree of Jesus? Of course not.

So even if I let you move the goalposts, you still have the problem that having a pedigree does not equate to having an easily recognized place in that lineage.

But I would rather you not move the goalposts. We are talking about the ecclesia, and whether the uninspired, error-filled lists of biased witnesses (Eusebius, anyone?) are anywhere near as useful in tracing the history of the Gospel as the testimony of belief that squares with the word of God. As I explained before, Paul has specifically disclaimed any pedigree of men as the basis for authenticating a Gospel believing assembly. This is not about bloodlines.

Even Jesus denies the principle. You recall the "not one of us" disciple who went about driving out demons in Jesus' name, and how the disciples complained to Jesus that chap was not an authorized disciple, not the right organizational, human, carnal pedigree? And I am sure you remember Jesus' response.

But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.
(Mark 9:39-40)

Do you see the criteria here? It's very clear. The organizational pedigree was dismissed as nothing. Just as Paul dismissed it in Corinth. Yes, bloodlines mattered in the levitical priesthood, and in the coming of Messiah as the seed of David. But the bond of our unity now is our common faith in Jesus, and the Spirit of God living in us, working out His truth in us, feeding us from the richness of His word, every day. And though that unity is beyond the reach of human sight, it is more real, and stronger, than any gathering of mortals, and will outlast them all, just as Jesus said.

Peace,

SR